


a volleyball nerd and a band nerd walk into a bar...

by Animal_Arithmetic



Category: Given (Anime), Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bokuto and Kuroo are only there for like five minutes... sorry, Hinata and Mafuyu are half brothers, M/M, Meeting the Family, Past Child Abuse, accidental secrets, just boys bein cute and in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27672932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Animal_Arithmetic/pseuds/Animal_Arithmetic
Summary: Shouyou surprises his half-brother by coming to watch one of his shows. Chaos, of course, ensues.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Terushima Yuuji, Kaji Akihiko/Nakayama Haruki, Satou Mafuyu/Uenoyama Ritsuka
Comments: 11
Kudos: 164





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ehhh just something fun to write. I'll write at least one more chapter but this is mostly just to explore if Hinata and Mafuyu were half siblings or something.
> 
> I've only seen the anime for given and most of Haikyuu!! so far. Also, very little editing because, again, this is just for fun.
> 
> Enjoy~

Mafuyu, Uenoyama thought with icky fondness, was really improving. His guitar skills still needed improvement, but he only made a few mistakes now. Hardly noticeable, really. And he hated having to be discrete, too—he just wanted to kiss Mafuyu and tell him how proud of him he was and—Well. It didn’t help that Mafuyu just looked so _good_ after a show. Like, that smile should be _illegal_. It made too many butterflies tumble around his stomach. And the _sweat_ —

“Ma-chan!” screamed a girlish voice right before a small, orange blur collided with Mafuyu.

Luckily, the show was over and Mafuyu’s guitar had been packed carefully away. Still, it took the combined efforts of Haruki and Akihiko to keep the startled boy upright.

“Na-chan...?” Mafuyu asked quietly. To the casual passerby, nothing had changed, but Uenoyama thought he could spot the quiet confusion. Maybe a little bit of happiness. “What are you doing here?”

“We came to see you, silly!”

“We?”

“Natsu!” called a new voice. It was stern and sounded like he was trying hard to be angry. “I told you not to run off like that!”

The girl in Mafuyu’s arms pouted. “But I wanted to see Ma-chan.”

A boy who looked eerily similar to Mafuyu stepped up, hands on his hips as he glared down at the girl. He stood almost a half a head shorter than Mafuyu and definitely did not look old enough to be taking care of a child.

_What the hell was going on?_

The girl, cowed by his stern glare, bowed her head and rubbed her face against Mafuyu’s chest. “Sorry, Shou-chan...”

The boy sighed and closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly. The doppelganger was definitely more expressive. “It’s fine. Just—You can’t _do_ that, okay? We’re in Tokyo, not Sendai. You know mom would kill me if I lost you.”

And, surprisingly, Mafuyu looked almost fond as he gazed at the other boy. Uenoyama tried his hardest to ignore the bitter, sharp twist of jealousy making his stomach roll. “Shou-chan? You came to watch me?”

“Duh!” This “Shou-chan” flipped emotions so fast that Uenoyama nearly got whiplash from it. “You said you were playing, so we came to surprise you!”

“Is your mom here?”

Uenoyama looked over at Haruki and Akihiko. Both shrugged, just as perplexed at the situation as he was. He wanted to interject, but at the same time he really wanted to watch the whole scene play out. Mafuyu was still quiet and reserved around him, but he didn’t seem to have any trouble at all talking to these two strangers.

“Nah, she let us come by ourselves.”

“Neko-san and Fukuro-san are watching out for us!”

Sure enough, there were two more (very, very tall, taller than even Akihiko what the hell) strangers hanging back just slightly. One had the most ridiculous bedhead Uenoyama had ever seen—though it looked kind of cool, honestly—and the other... looked very much like if an owl had a human form.

“Hey, hey, hey!!!” crowed the owl-looking one. “Bokuto Koutarou, at your service!”

“Kuroo Tetsurou,” purred the other one with a sly grin.

“Oh.” Shou-chan blinked up at them. “Oops,” he added with a grin. “Got ahead of myself and forgot introductions.”

Akihiko coughed as politely as he could to gain their attention. “Mafuyu... Mind telling us what’s going on?”

That, though, seemed to make Mafuyu clam up once again. However, that didn’t seem to deter Shou-chan. He bounced on his toes, eyes wide and sparkling, arms waving about. “Whoa! You’re so cool!”

Akihiko, caught off guard, wasn’t sure how to react to that.

That didn’t seem to deter the boy, either. “I’m Hinata Shouyou, and this is Natsu!” He turned his gaze expectantly to the others, but startled at seeing Uenoyama. “Kageyama didn’t tell me he had an older brother in Tokyo!”

“... Kageyama?”

“Yeah, you look exactly like my setter—hold on.” Shouyou fished in his pocket for his phone and messed around a bit until he found what he was looking for. He showed their little group the picture of—yup, a guy who looked eerily similar to Uenoyama, haircut and blue eyes and all. Except this Kageyama looked extremely grumpy at having his picture taken.

“Yanno, he kinda does,” Kuroo mused.

Mafuyu shook his head, fond smile still in place as he tightened his grip on Natsu. “No, this is Haruki, and Akihiko,” he said, pointing to each as he said their name. He paused, though, and looked up at Uenoyama with an odd look. “And this is Uenoyama Ritsuka.”

Shouyou gaped at Uenoyama. “ _The_ Uenoyama-kun—”

“Shh!” Mafuyu bolted forward, nearly knocking Natsu down to shush Shouyou.

Again, _what the hell_.

“Not here!”

“Wait,” said Haruki, frowning at the whole situation. He probably felt like he needed to take charge to get answers, Uenoyama figured. “What—How do you know each other?”

The three who apparently knew each other well blinked up at him. “Well,” Mafuyu said quietly, slowly. “Shouyou is my brother, and Natsu is his sister.”

_What?_

How come Mafuyu hadn’t ever told Uenoyama that he had siblings? Something bitter twisted his stomach further. Did Mafuyu not trust him? Were they not nearly as close as Uenoyama thought they were? He had thought they were pretty serious—as serious as two kids in high school could get, anyway. They’d been dating for almost nine months, after all. What else was he hiding? He’d been over to Mafuyu’s house plenty of times and had never seen any evidence of siblings.

A hand on his stilled his racing thoughts. He hadn’t even known his hands had clenched. Mafuyu was looking at him in concern, and Uenoyama wanted to be angry but found that he... really couldn’t. Not when Mafuyu looked at him like _that_. It hurt, of course, but...

Just barely, he could hear Haruki question, “Wait, wouldn’t that make Natsu your sister, too?”

Both Shouyou and Mafuyu pulled a face. Huh. “It’s... complicated.”

But then Shouyou turned to Mafuyu, concerned. “They... don’t know?”

Mafuyu turned back to his bandmates and frowned. “I... think I forgot they don’t know.” But then his shoulders curled in as his eyes darted around at all the people who could eavesdrop. “But... Not—Not here. I can’t...”

Kuroo piped up. “Well, we’ll leave you to it. We delivered Shrimpy and Shrimpier into Mafuyu-kun’s capable hands.” He ruffled all three siblings’ heads with a grin. “Message me when you’re ready to see Kenma and we’ll figure out a meeting spot.”

“See you later!” Bokuto called out. “It was an awesome show!”

“Bye, Neko-san! Fukuro-san! Thanks for hanging out with us!”

And then, suddenly, they were gone.

Uenoyama still wasn’t sure how to feel about... anything that was happening, really. But, he followed along as the others started heading out towards their usual restaurant. It would be private enough, apparently. The night was cool, busy for the area, but not so bad that no one got separated. Up ahead, Natsu and Shouyou were chatting enthusiastically with Haruki and Akihiko about the show and asking so many questions that the older two could hardly keep up. Mafuyu stayed by his side, trailing quietly after them.

“I’m sorry,” Mafuyu said so quietly that Uenoyama almost missed it. “I... I truly forgot you didn’t know.” When Uenoyama looked over, he could see tears gathering in the corner of his boyfriend’s eyes. “I—Everyone knew, for so long. So I—”

“Hey.” Uenoyama pulled them to a stop, hoping he could do something—anything—to make the ache in his chest go away. He hated seeing Mafuyu so upset. And because of him? Uenoyama couldn’t stand it. “It’s okay. I get it. You don’t... have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“I... I want you to—to know. It’s important. It’s just... hard to talk about. Harder than talking about Yuki.”

Uenoyama couldn’t help himself. He knew he was supposed to be discrete, but... If it was harder to talk about than a dead boyfriend... What was _worse_ than a dead boyfriend? He cupped a hand to Mafuyu’s cheek. Mafuyu leaned into it and smiled that fond, gentle smile that made Uenoyama’s heart skip a beat every time. The lights from the shops were warm and... and just made Mafuyu look so _pretty_.

It was so unfair how utterly, hopelessly gay Mafuyu made him.

“I’m willing to listen to whatever you have to say.”

Uenoyama nearly choked when Mafuyu turned to kiss his palm. This boy was going to be the death of him. He just knew it.

Mafuyu tugged on the sleeve of his jacket, and Uenoyama could only hopelessly follow along.

They squished into a booth, miraculously. Natsu, completely enamored by Akihiko and Haruki, squished in between them and beamed up at them whenever they paid attention to her. Mafuyu and Uenoyama slid onto the other bench with Shouyou flanking Mafuyu’s other side. It was nice, Uenoyama thought. Shouyou and Natsu were such a bright contrast to their more subdued group.

Well. Maybe ‘subdued’ wasn’t the right word, but in comparison to the Hinatas...

The two were like sunshine incarnate, like a warm, summer afternoon. Refreshing, warm, happy. It didn’t even feel like they were strangers, like they had only met twenty minutes ago in a confusing whirlwind.

It was... It was nice.

Once the waitress set down their food, the mood seemed to shift. Both Shouyou and Mafuyu seemed tense, grew even quieter, whispering between themselves. Akihiko took the chance to help Natsu with her portion of meat on the grill. If he wasn’t careful, he would surely gain another adoring fan. Well, Uenoyama thought with a little laugh, it was probably too late for that. Natsu seemed completely taken with Akihiko, admiring his cool piercings and exclaiming how cool he looked behind the drums and was it hard to play and—

“Shou-chan’s boyfriend has piercings, too!” she said suddenly. She didn’t appear to notice the sudden silence that fell over their table. “Do you have one on your tongue, too?”

Shouyou slapped a hand to his face, cheeks turning a dark pink almost immediately. “That’s not very polite, Nacchan. We barely know them.”

Natsu grumbled under her breath, wriggling between the two men. “But he looks like jiji.”

“What...?”

Shouyou buried his head in his hands. “She calls my boyfriend jiji because his name is Yuuji and she thinks it’s funny to call him an old man because it annoys him.”

“He makes a funny face,” Natsu giggled.

“Too bad you’re not dating Kageyama,” Mafuyu teased. “Imagine the double dates.”

Shouyou cackled. “Glitch in the Matrix.”

Dinner was nice, easy. Uenoyama enjoyed Shouyou and Natsu’s company and kind of hoped that they could get together again someday. But with the two living in Miyagi, getting together would be a lot of work. Maybe he could surprise Mafuyu with a date there...?

They split off after the restaurant. Mafuyu had shaken his head, glancing at Natsu and claiming that his secret wasn’t for young ears. Akihiko and Haruki nodded in understanding and wished them a good night before heading to their apartment. Uenoyama smiled as their fingers linked together. He was glad they had finally gotten together, really. He just wished they could all be a little more open about it.

Fingers grazed his own, finally linking their pinkies together. “Let’s go home.”

By the time they made it to Mafuyu’s place, Natsu was knocked out on her brother’s back. They woke her just long enough to get her changed into one of Mafuyu’s shirts and get her teeth brushed with one of his spare toothbrushes. He also loaned Shouyou some clothes that were much too big so Shouyou could throw them in the wash to have them clean for the morning.

Uenoyama and Mafuyu curled up on one end of the couch, comfortable in some of Uenoyama’s pajamas he had left for such occasions. Shouyou curled up on the other end, facing them with a little smile.

“I’ll bring Yuuji for your next show,” he promised, sinking deeper into the cushions. “Then we can have, like, a triple date!”

“Maybe we could go to Akihiko and Haruki’s apartment,” Uenoyama murmured into Mafuyu’s hair, fingers rubbing gentle circles through the strands.

“Yeah,” Mafuyu murmured back, wiggling as close as he could into Uenoyama’s embrace. It had been several months since they had started dating, but it still made his heart skip a beat in his throat whenever Mafuyu did anything adorable. He was less of a gay disaster, now, and more of a—well. No. He was still a disaster. He was just a little better at hiding it after so many months. “I’d like that.”

The washer chimed not that long afterwards. With a sigh, Shouyou heaved himself up to switch them out. “Come on,” he muttered, puttering back into the living room and tapping both boys on the head. “Let’s go to bed.”

Uenoyama couldn’t even bring himself to splutter in embarrassment when Mafuyu pulled him into bed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouyou's team finds out a few of his secrets, his brother meets his boyfriend, and a few heavy conversations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/TW: Talk of child abuse towards the end

“Hey, uh... Ennoshita-senpai— _san_. Ukai- _san_ ,” said Shouyou, shuffling up to the new captain and their coach, hoping he hadn’t interrupted anything too important. It was only the second week of the break before the new school year started and Shouyou already hated that he had to tell his team he would be missing _another_ weekend practice. They weren’t mandatory during the breaks, but he still hated missing.

Ennoshita, never one to let shenanigans slip by, narrowed his eyes at Shouyou. “What’d you break?” Ukai looked just as unimpressed.

“I didn’t break anything!” he denied, doing his best to scowl. He’d been told before that his scowl made him look more adorable than menacing, but he could try! He’d even been perfectly behaved and had only argued with Kageyama _once_ during practice. Okay— _maybe_ twice, but that was it! Shouyou shook his head. “No, never mind. I’m just letting you know that I won’t be here for Saturday’s practice again.”

“Again?” Ennoshita frowned, concerned. “Everything okay?”

“Totally fine!” he said, waving his arms as if to dissipate his concern. “I just have to go to Tokyo again.”

“More family stuff?” asked Ukai.

“Yup!”

“Are you _sure_ everything is okay?” Ennoshita placed a hand on Shouyou’s shoulder, looking Very Concerned. “You can tell us if something’s happening, you know? We’ll support you.”

Shouyou squirmed under their gaze. He _really_ didn’t want to tell them he was skipping practice for a _date_. “ _Uhm_ ,” he said, quite eloquently, looking around to make sure no one would overhear. He could at least tell them _a_ truth. “Uhm. It’s just—I don’t get to see my brother except during breaks? So I try to see him as much as I can, you know? And it’s easier for me to go there than for him to come here, so—”

Both Ukai and Ennoshita blinked at him. Takeda-sensei wandered over at his admission. “You have a brother?”

“Who has a brother?” Tanaka asked loudly, bounding up and nearly crashing into Ennoshita.

Shouyou cringed. He hadn’t wanted to make it a big deal, and now the rest of the team was coming over. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted them to know... It was just... He didn’t want them to make a big deal out of it, which he _knew_ they would. “I do. A half-brother. He lives in Tokyo.”

“You skipped practice for your _brother_?” Kageyama asked, looking quite sour.

“ _Yes_ , Bakayama,” Shouyou spat, crossing his arms and very much fed up with the whole thing. He should have just cornered Ukai in his shop. “I only get to see him a few times a year and we’re pretty close. I hate missing practice, but I miss him!”

“Have him come here, then,” Kageyama replied in his usual grumpy way.

“I _can’t_.” Shouyou sighed, rubbing his face vigorously. “He has shows and band practice and a job and stuff.”

“He’s in a band?” Noya asked, pushing his way to the front with gleaming eyes. Even Tsukishima looked interested in that piece of information.

“Uhm. Yes?”

Tsukishima tried to appear bored and disinterested, but he asked anyway, “Which band?”

“Ah, uhm, _given_?” And why was _Tsukishima_ interested, anyway? “They’re kinda new. I guess.”

Tsukishima looked shocked—or, as shocked as he allowed others to see. “You’re related to Sato Mafuyu.” He said it as if there were no other conclusions, as if he’d _met_ them before, or something.

Shouyou narrowed his eyes. “How’d you know that?”

He scoffed and pushed up his glasses. His shock had slipped into a smirk. “Pretty obvious, I guess. You look just like him, now that I think about it.”

“Oh, oh!” Noya jumped in place, smiling gleefully. “Let’s all go see his show! Team bonding!”

Several of the others chimed in. Dread pooled in the pit of Shouyou’s stomach. No! They’d ruin his date for sure. “No!” he shouted, somewhat childishly stomping his foot. “Then you’ll want to meet him and you’ll overwhelm him because you’re all rowdy and noisy!”

“Pfft, and you’re not?”

“He’s my brother, that’s different,” Shouyou insisted with a pout. “Besides, I’ll already be taking my b—” He snapped his mouth shut, already well aware that he had just screwed himself over big time. He had concentrated so hard on not telling that secret that it had just... slipped out.

“Your what now?” Tanaka said, leaning over Shouyou menacingly.

“Nothing! Bye!”

Noya tackled him before he could get far. “Were you about to say boyfriend?!” Noya practically screamed, sitting on Shouyou’s butt to keep him from moving with his hands clasped on Shouyou’s wrists. “Why didn’t you tell us you have a boyfriend!”

“Because I knew you’d make a big deal out of it!”

“Of course we would!” No one stopped Tanaka from flopping down in front of him, grinning a little too toothily as he propped his head in one hand and swung his feet in the air. “Now— _spill_.”

At the same time, Ennoshita pulled Tanaka away by his feet and Ukai picked up Noya by his armpits. Tanaka screeched as his shirt rode up and his stomach rubbed against the floor with a painful squeak. As the two argued with their assailants, Shouyou made a break for the club room to grab his stuff and hightail it out of there.

Hopefully they would forget by tomorrow’s practice.

* * *

They hadn’t, but their need for meddling quickly turned into laps. Shouyou snickered, not feeling sorry at all that the two rambunctious boys had to run for most of practice. They sent sour looks to both Ukai and Ennoshita when their backs were turned and made mockingly threatening gestures at Shouyou when they passed. Shouyou just laughed and made faces right back.

After practice, the two were a little more subdued—pouting, for sure, but more hesitant with interacting with Shouyou, especially when Ennoshita kept shooting them cold glares.

With a sigh, Shouyou turned to them with his hands on his hips. “You get three questions. Not each—three questions between the two of you.”

The two started to protest, but grumbled and bent their heads together to come up with what they wanted to ask. Shouyou used the time to change his shirt—he’d gotten entirely too sweaty, but he had to take a bus _and_ a train to Yuuji’s house to take a shower there and didn’t want to make either stink _too_ much. He put on a few more swipes of deodorant, just in case.

“Question number one,” Tanaka announced, standing firm before Shouyou. Behind them, the others grew quiet to listen in. “Why didn’t you tell us you had a boyfriend?”

And he looked— _hurt_ , was the best way Shouyou could describe it. He winced. He hadn’t _meant_ to hide it, it was just— “Well... I didn’t know how you’d react? Like, because he’s from another team, mostly, but, I mean...” Shouyou looked away, suddenly feeling shy. “I didn’t... I mean I know Daichi and Suga got together after nationals but that’s _them_ and I didn’t know if it would be different with _me_ , yanno? And you never asked.”

“Hey.” Tanaka tapped his chin to make him look up. He was grinning, Noya grinning just as bright behind him. “Anyone gives ya trouble about it and you come to us. We’ll set them straight.”

“Second question!” Noya shouted, definitely ruining the mood. Tanaka shot him a scowl but he bulldozed right over. “Who is it?!”

“Oh. Uh.” Really, he knew that they would ask that question, but he still didn’t want to answer it. “Uhm. Terushima... Yuuji.” Their blank looks filled him with ease. At least they wouldn’t—

“Oh, the captain from Johzenji,” Ennoshita commented idly, folding his shirt to put it away. “That yellow team,” he added as their blank looks turned to him.

“ _WHAT_?!”

“Yup!” Shouyou hurriedly shoved his kneepads into his bag and took off for the door. “Looks like that’s three questions! _Thanks for playing, bye_!”

“No! That doesn’t count!” Noya tackled him once again as he struggled to pull on his shoes.

“Ack! Yes it does!”

“Do over!” Tanaka declared.

“No!”

“Yes!”

“No!”

“Would you two get off of him?”

The two jumped off at Ennoshita’s scary Captain voice he had easily grown into.

“I just wanna know if we can meet him,” Tanaka pouted.

“Yeah.” Noya punched his fist into his other hand with a menacing grin. “So we can give him the shovel talk.”

“No!”

“Yes—”

“ _Enough_.”

The two grumbled, properly chastised. However, as Shouyou tried to escape, Noya’s voice, unusually small, stopped him. “He’s treating you right, right? He’s not a dick to you, is he?”

Shouyou paused with his hand on the door. He turned to look at them, both boys looking up at him so earnestly, so concerned that Shouyou couldn’t help but smile a little. “Yeah. He’s—He’s good to me. I like him a lot. The thing with Shimizu-san—he regrets it, a lot.”

It had been some sort of sexuality crisis, Yuuji had told him not long after they started dating. Had been a last ditch effort in proving his masculinity and heterosexuality, one that had turned into a complete nervous breakdown that Bobata and Futamata had to guide him out of. His friends must have had some sort of breakthrough with him because he had nervously approached Shouyou after their match to ask shyly if Shouyou wanted to go on a date. He hadn’t been pushy or aggressive, just shy and blushing, and Shouyou couldn’t resist.

“Good.” Tanaka clapped a hand to his shoulder with an easy smile. “Let me know if he doesn’t, okay?”

Shouyou laughed. “Sure. See you guys later. He’s expecting me.”

He took off before anyone else could stop him, rushing down the stairs and to the nearest bus. The trip to Sendai was annoyingly long—half the trip by bus, then the other half by train. At least the train brought him only a few blocks away from Yuuji’s house. It was chilly, being only mid-March, but his quick pace kept him warm enough.

Yuuji sat on his front steps, waiting for Shouyou. He jumped up with a cheer when he saw him, rushing forward to press a kiss to his lips before urging him inside for a shower. It didn’t take long for Shouyou to shower and get dressed, throwing his dirty clothes in Yuuji’s hamper for his mom to wash while they were gone. With a snack and a quick goodbye, they were out the door and rushing for the train.

Shouyou waited until the train had left Sendai before he said, “My team knows about you.”

They had agreed, a few months into dating, once they were sure Yuuji wasn’t just using it as ‘experimentation,’ that they wouldn’t go broadcasting their relationship, but they also wouldn’t hide it, either. If their friends asked, they would be honest. Johzenji had known almost immediately—Bobata and Futamata knew, of course, and there weren’t many members in the first place. They were close and knew almost immediately that something had changed, even if Yuuji had been tightlipped about it until nationals.

It wasn’t that Karasuno didn’t _care_ —it was just... they were all way more obsessed about volleyball than about anything else. It probably hadn’t helped that everyone had thought that Shouyou was volleyball-sexual, now that he thought about it...

“Yeah?” Yuuji asked, slipping his hand into Shouyou’s, slotting their fingers together. His shoulder was at the perfect height for Shouyou to rest his head on. Yuuji gently rested his head on Shouyou’s after dropping a kiss to his still damp hair. “How’d they take it?”

“Uh, okay, I guess,” Shouyou murmured. “I think a little hurt I hadn’t told them before. They want to uh... meet you... properly.”

Yuuji laughed. “I could always pick you up from next Saturday’s practice and spend the night?”

Shouyou couldn’t help wiggling in excitement, trying to contain himself. “I think I’d like that, actually. Natsu misses you. Keeps asking when you’re coming back over.”

“I like your sister,” he admitted softly. Even quieter, he added, “I’m... excited, but also nervous to meet your brother.”

“He’s excited to meet you, too,” Shouyou assured him. “He’ll like you, don’t worry.”

Yuuji hummed, but didn’t otherwise respond.

What Shouyou liked about dating Yuuji were these quiet moments. They were both very high energy individuals and could get somewhat competitive, but... These moments were some of Shouyou’s favorites. It was easy to just exist, for a while, when no one was around, expecting him to be happy and chipper and high energy all the time.

It had been an accident, finding these quiet moments. Both, in the beginning of dating, had expected that they needed to always laugh, always find a joke, always be chipper and happy and high energy and everything else that went along with that. Yuuji had it even worse, having that high expectation of having good grades along with being in class 2-7. They’d been studying at Shouyou’s house one weekend, just before nationals. Talk and jokes and laughter had been a staple for most of the afternoon, but Shouyou could tell that Yuuji was wearing down after a while. His laughter had seemed forced—stale—and his jokes had turned mediocre at best.

He’d snapped his book shut and pushed to his feet, flipping Yuuji’s book shut and pulling him up only to push him into his bed.

“What—hey!” Yuuji had protested.

But Shouyou had burrowed into his side, pulling the blankets over their shoulders. “You looked tired,” he had mumbled into Yuuji’s chest. “Let’s take a nap.”

They hadn’t—not really. They might have dozed, but they were content to just lay in silence, watching the shadows and sunlight move through the room as the afternoon ticked away with only their breathing as their background noise.

After that, it had been easier to slip into those comfortable silences.

They dozed the rest of the way to Tokyo, letting the scenery slip by in silence. Soon enough, they were pulling up to their stop and they stood to stretch their sleepy muscles. Yuuji, being the tall jerk that he was, smirked as he grabbed their bags from the rack above them. Shouyou scowled his best, but Yuuji just kissed it away and pushed him into the aisle.

“Tokyo awaits!” Yuuji struck a pose, as if leading them into battle. The other passengers gave him odd looks, but he ignored it, pulling Shouyou after him to the platform. “Do you see him?” he asked, looking more like a child at a new playground than the almost-adult he was.

Shouyou gave him his most unimpressed flat look. “Yes, Yuuji. I can see him over all these people taller than me.”

“No matter!” Yuuji spun around so his back faced Shouyou and he scooped him up before he could protest. His knee dug into Yuuji’s duffle bag hanging from his side, but Yuuji didn’t protest. “Can you see him now?”

Shouyou scooted as far up Yuuji’s back as he could, scanning the platform for his brother. He’d thought he would be able to find him easier, since they both had bright orange hair and most everyone had darker hair, but Tokyo was surprisingly colorful. It was annoying, really, he thought as he glared across the platform.

“Shou-chan!” a voice called to their right.

“Onward, noble steed!” Shouyou cried, pointing towards the voice.

Finally, a few steps later, he saw his brother and his boyfriend. Mafuyu was grinning and Uenoyama looked like he was trying to hide a fond smile as he rolled his eyes. People scurried out of the way at their war cries as they barreled through the station.

“Oh,” said Mafuyu, blinking at Yuuji as they came to a stop. He looked a little faint. “He looks like Yuki.”

Hopping off of Yuuji’s back, he took a good look at his boyfriend who looked just as confused as Uenoyama. Sure, both Yuuji and Yuki had blond and brown hair and they both had piercings, but—

Wait.

Wait a second.

Shouyou gasped, horrified. “Don’t tell me I have the same taste in men as my _brother_.”

The other three paused to stare at him.

“Because Yuuji and Yuki look similar and I had a crush on a Uenoyama-clone?”

They continued to stare.

“At least they all have different personalities?”

Mafuyu opened and closed his mouth several times before deciding to turn and walk away without them. Yuuji, never one willing to be left behind, quickly caught up to him, using wide gestures as he introduced himself properly and started talking his ear off. Shouyou, smiling fondly, followed after them at a more sedate pace. Silently, Uenoyama fell into step with him, hands in his pockets.

“His name is... Terushima—Yuuji, right?” Uenoyama asked after they had stepped out of the crowded station. It was late afternoon—they’d arrived just in time to go get takeout to meet up at Akihiko and Haruki’s apartment.

“Yup!”

Up ahead, Yuuji wrapped an arm around Mafuyu’s waist, pulling him close. Mafuyu was laughing, a light blush on his cheeks at the action.

“Hey—EEE.” Uenoyama screeched as Shouyou’s arm wrapped around his waist. Shouyou pinched his side, grinning innocently up at him as Uenoyama continued to squirm in his arms. His blush only darkened when Yuuji and Mafuyu turned at the commotion.

The two ahead grinned at them and turned back to continue their conversation. Nonchalantly, like he was allowed to, Shouyou leaned into Uenoyama’s side. “He’s harmless, I promise. He’s a flirt, but he’s pretty loyal. He’s not making a move in front of us, I can tell you that.” Uenoyama grumbled, face still fairly pink.

They continued on in silence for a while, watching their boyfriends in front of them. Yuuji still had his arm wrapped around Mafuyu’s waist as his other hand alternated between readjusting his bag and making wide, sweeping gestures with whatever he was saying. Surprisingly, Mafuyu seemed pretty happy about the whole ordeal.

“He’s happy,” Shouyou murmured, nudging a still grumpy Uenoyama.

“Huh?”

“Mafuyu,” he replied, wrestling with Uenoyama for a moment to get him to lay his arm around Shouyou’s shoulders. Uenoyama’s face was so _red_ by the time Shouyou got his way. He couldn’t help laughing, just a little. “He’s happy,” he repeated, smiling as sincerely as he could. “You make him happy.”

Uenoyama looked a little stricken at that, or perhaps like his heart had skipped a beat. “I do?”

“Well, yeah,” Shouyou replied, wondering if... maybe his brother hadn’t actually told him that already? Was it not obvious in Mafuyu’s actions? Sure, his brother had a hard time vocalizing his thoughts and feelings, but... “I’ve never seen him so happy. Not even when he was with Yuki, you know?”

“Oh,” Uenoyama replied, sounding small. “I... I didn’t—know. We don’t really talk about that? I mean, I know what happened,” he stammered, bringing his free hand up to rub at his face. “I don’t... wanna push him or go too fast, you know?”

“That’s fair.” He watched their boyfriends disappear around the corner, waiting until they turned, too, before speaking again. “I like you better than Yuki, anyway. As a boyfriend for him, I mean.”

“Huh?”

Shouyou chewed on his bottom lip, thinking hard. Uenoyama did deserve to know, in a way. Maybe then he’d think he was worth it for Mafuyu, or whatever. Wouldn’t be so scared, or something. “Yuki was a good guy, don’t get me wrong. He—We owe... _owed_ him, a lot. He was a great friend to us—to Mafuyu—but... I don’t think he was a good boyfriend.” He waved away Uenoyama’s sudden panic. “He wasn’t bad like that! Not abusive or anything! Just...” How to explain? “I... don’t think they should have dated. They were _too_ close, you know?

“But you—You’re a good boyfriend.”

Uenoyama was quiet beside him, steps slowing until they stopped. Luckily, the sidewalk was mostly empty and people could easily walk past.

“You think so?”

“I _know_ so.” He urged Uenoyama forward before their boyfriends could disappear on them. “He’s always talking about you. And I can tell he’s so much happier than he was. He has trouble with expressing it verbally, but—” Wait. “Wait. Has he told you?”

Uenoyama turned his confused frown down at Shouyou. “Told me what?”

“About—About that. Why he has so much trouble with words sometimes?”

“Oh, uh... no.”

Hmm. “Maybe we’ll get a chance to tell you later,” he promised, opening the door for Uenoyama to step through first. It wasn’t a talk to be had in public, after all.

* * *

Yuuji and Shouyou were not allowed to carry the takeout after an... _incident_ where they got a little too excited and they nearly threw everything out of the bags. Both grumbled and protested, saying they would be more careful, but Mafuyu just took the bags with a gentle smile, gave half of them to Uenoyama, and led the way to Akihiko and Haruki’s apartment.

Yuuji, fortunately, fit right in and had no trouble charming the older two bandmates. It probably helped that he and Akihiko had compared piercings immediately upon introduction.

Haruki had set out cushions around the coffee table—three on each side. There was a little bit of an odd shuffle as they tried to determine which couple would be split up after they had set out plates and the food.

“I know!” Shouyou pushed Uenoyama and Mafuyu to sit on his side and gestured for Yuuji to sit across from him. “Sit over there so I can gaze lovingly into your eyes.” He fluttered his eyes for affect.

As expected, Yuuji blushed just as prettily as always and stuttered, trying to admonish a grinning Shouyou.

“Hey, I want to gaze lovingly into your eyes,” Akihiko said, only slightly teasing as he brushed some hair from Haruki’s eyes. “Can’t let these high school gremlins show us up.” Haruki hid behind his hands, trying, unsuccessfully, to hide his flush.

“Oh, hey, all the blonds are on one side,” Uenoyama commented thoughtfully. “If we’re speaking of aesthetics.”

“Then you and Mafuyu need to trade places so you’re between two redheads,” Akihiko teased, settling in front of Uenoyama. Haruki quickly settled down beside him, and Yuuji took the last spot with only a little pout.

“Or—” Shouyou couldn’t help the smirk as he looked between the other four. “Mafuyu and Akihiko could trade places.”

They all looked at him, various degrees of confused. They looked between each other, trying to figure out his reasoning. Hair aesthetics didn’t make much sense, really. Unless—

Mafuyu laughed when he got it. “That’s mean,” he said, hiding his chuckles behind a hand.

“What?”

Shouyou couldn’t help laughing as well. “You know it’s true, Ma-chan!”

Mafuyu only laughed harder at Uenoyama’s flustered face. “I can’t—I can’t—” he gasped between laughs.

Despite how cute Mafuyu’s laugh was—and how utterly gay it made Uenoyama—he didn’t much appreciate that he was sort of being laughed at. “Do I even wanna know?” he grumbled, pulling a takeout container closer. If the others weren’t going to eat, then he’d go ahead and start.

“Shou-chan, don’t—”

“Tops on this side, bottoms on the other.”

The apartment was silent for several moments. Then, suddenly, everyone had some sort of opinion. Shouyou had fallen back on the floor, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Mafuyu was trying to calm a spluttering and blushing Uenoyama. Both Akihiko and Haruki were red, trying to come up with some sort of excuse. Yuuji was groaning into his hands, wondering why he had decided he liked the little devil across from him.

“I didn’t need to know that,” Haruki groaned into his palms.

“How would you—How do you—” Uenoyama sputtered, still hiding behind his hands as he tried to calm down.

“Well. Ma-chan and I do talk about it,” Shouyou replied unashamedly as he sat back up.

“That was supposed to be secret,” Mafuyu hissed, just as Uenoyama wailed, “He _told_ you?”

“And it was easy to guess with you two,” Shouyou said, as if he hadn’t been interrupted, pointing to the other two blonds.

The two spluttered and stammered in response.

“Shouyou,” Yuuji hissed, though it did look like he was trying to hold back his laugh. “They’re _strangers_. They don’t need to know—and we don’t need to know!”

“Wait.” They all turned to a frowning Akihiko. Although his face was still pink, he narrowed his eyes at Shouyou. “You’re the top?”

“You thought it was Yuuji?” Yuuji smacked his face with a groan. Shouyou had thought it was pretty obvious that Yuuji was a _total_ bottom. Even he knew during their first date! Well. When it came to boys, anyway. Did that make him a switch, then? How did that work? Whatever. He was getting sidetracked. Shouyou narrowed his eyes at Akihiko, pointing at him accusingly. “Why, because he’s _taller_?”

“... A little bit, yeah,” Akihiko replied weakly.

_“Just because I’m short—”_

“This is getting way out of hand,” Yuuji groaned as Shouyou continued to protest. Without further ado, Yuuji upended a carton over Shouyou’s plate and placed the chopsticks in his hand.

Shouyou immediately brightened and leaned forward to kiss him. “Thanks, babe.”

Yuuji rolled his eyes. “Just eat your food,” he said to the entire group.

It was quiet for a bit as everyone dished up their food. The siblings exchanged a glance, Mafuyu nodding slightly that he was ready.

Shouyou suddenly cleared his throat. The others obligingly turned their attention to the siblings. Mafuyu’s hands shook, so Uenoyama took one in his, rubbing his thumb over the knuckles.

“I think it’s time I’ve finally told you.” Mafuyu kept his gaze down, fixated on the plate in front of him. “We don’t... like talking about it. It’s... It’s hard. To talk about.”

Shouyou took a deep breath and picked up where Mafuyu left off. It seemed like Mafuyu had run out of words to say, and Shouyou had words in abundance. “Mafuyu and I have the same dad. He was married to Mafuyu’s mom but was having an affair with my mom. But my mom didn’t know he was married or anything. I’m only four months younger. And... And uh, he got taken to jail. For—For abuse.” He drew in a shaky breath, unconsciously bringing a hand to his ribs. Mafuyu took his hand and squeezed. That seemed to give Shouyou the strength to continue. “And then so Natsu and I have the same mom, but different dads. They weren’t ever married, though, and he left, too. So... Yeah. That’s why Natsu and Mafuyu aren’t siblings. And after our moms found out about our dad, our moms kept in touch so we could know about each other.”

“Wait.” Error. Error. Uenoyama stared at the two boys on his side of the table. “You’re only four months younger? But you look like—”

He grunted as Mafuyu nudged him _hard_ in the ribs. His boyfriend looked a little too smug as he rubbed at the tender area. “He’ll be a second year. He plays for the Karasuno volleyball team. He’s a middle blocker, and a starter,” he added proudly, chin tilting up.

“You must have an impressive vertical,” Akihiko mused.

“Three hundred thirty-three centimeters at our last measurement!” Shouyou boasted.

“He can dunk a basketball,” Yuuji translated proudly.

Haruki gaped. “Seriously?”

Shouyou grinned. “Yup!” Both siblings were a little relieved that the topic had moved on so quickly. Their boyfriends might confront them later, but for now... His grin turned mischievous. “Yuuji calls me Spider-Man because of it.”

“Okay, now just wait a second,” Yuuji protested with a mock glare. The others were already laughing. “ _I’m_ not the one who launched himself from a wall to save a ball!”

_“Shouyou!”_

* * *

The four tumbled into Mafuyu’s apartment hours later. His mom was out again, at work or spending the night at a “friend’s” house—who knew. Shouyou tried to not let it bother him so much, but he kind of hated Mafuyu’s mom for it. From his understanding, she was almost never home. And, yeah, sure, she had to support her kid financially but—

“You okay?” Mafuyu asked, cupping Shouyou’s elbow to stop him. He looked a little too knowing. “She left to give us some space,” he added quietly at Shouyou’s deepened frown. “I asked her to.”

“If you say so.”

It was late, so they took turns getting ready for bed. They set out a futon in Mafuyu’s room for Shouyou and Yuuji to sleep on, but they all piled into Mafuyu’s bed, not quite ready to go to sleep quite yet. Mafuyu had manhandled Uenoyama into cuddling with him at the head of the bed and Yuuji and Shouyou were happily curled into each other at the foot of the bed. It wasn’t often that they could be affectionate with their boyfriends while others were around. It was... sort of nice, not being judged. The light was low—curtains closed and only the bedside lamp on, casting a gentle, warm glow. Kedama was curled on Uenoyama’s lap to Mafuyu could still easily pet him.

Mafuyu cleared his throat. “I... There’s—other things I didn’t want to say in front of Akihiko and Haruki,” he said quietly. “They don’t need to know. But...”

Uenoyama pulled Mafuyu closer and dropped a kiss into his hair, ignoring how hot his face felt. “You don’t have to say if you don’t want to.”

“I know.” Mafuyu pressed his own kiss to Uenoyama’s chest, right above his heart. Shouyou kept silent. “It’s just... Our dad—was abusive. I—I wasn’t allowed to talk, or make noise, so I just—It’s hard. Sometimes. To talk.” Uenoyama pulled him impossibly closer, rubbing soothing circles over his back and wondering if he could break into whatever prison to kill their father.

“I didn’t get it as bad,” Shouyou commented when Mafuyu fell silent. “He only came around for a few days every few weeks. But he’d—” He squeezed his eyes and curled tighter into Yuuji, welcoming those strong arms that encased him. “He’d—corner me, in the bathroom, where my mom couldn’t see.”

“Oh,” said Yuuji, softly, as if he’d found the final piece of whatever puzzle that had been missing. “That’s why you’re weird about bathrooms.”

“Ten years of therapy and I’m still terrified,” Shouyou tried to joke.

Mafuyu took a shaky breath, hiding in Uenoyama’s chest. But his voice was clear when he said, “Yuki saved us. We... owed him a lot for that. That’s why we were so close.”

“Ma-chan didn’t get therapy,” Shouyou added. “Not really. Not enough.”

“Shouyou.”

“I’m allowed to be mad about it.”

They fell quiet for a long moment, listening to the late night traffic.

“Okay,” said Yuuji, startling all of them. “We need to talk about something happy before falling asleep.”

“What? Why?” Shouyou questioned.

“Some psychology thing to prevent nightmares after talking about trauma.” Yuuji shrugged before rolling over on top of Shouyou and squishing him, peppering him with kisses and ignoring Shouyou’s shouts and giggles. He slowed until he gave a lingering kiss to Shouyou’s lips before pulling back just far enough to brush their noses together. “I love you.”

“You’re such a sap!” Shouyou laughed, but returned the kiss. “Love you, too, you dork.” He looked over to see Uenoyama blushing bright red, looking anywhere but at them. Mafuyu was tucked under his chin, smiling fondly at them. “Oh, Ma-chan,” he murmured, still squished under Yuuji. Yuuji made to move away, but Shouyou held on tighter until he stopped moving. It was nice, safe, with Yuuji’s weight on top of him like this. “Mom wants you to come over soon. She misses you.”

Mafuyu snuggled further into Uenoyama’s side. “I miss her, too...”

“We don’t... have a show next weekend,” Uenoyama muttered. “Maybe we can get off work and go see them?”

Mafuyu turned quickly, dislodging them so he could stare at Uenoyama. He didn’t speak—just stared with wide, hopeful eyes that nearly sparkled.

Uenoyama, of course, flushed and looked away, grumping out, “What?”

“You’d really go up there with me?”

Tentatively, Uenoyama nodded. He grunted when Mafuyu threw himself at him, disturbing Kedama. His face grew impossibly more flushed when Mafuyu kissed him in front of his brother and his boyfriend. “What was that for?” he asked once Mafuyu pulled away. He held the back of his hand over his mouth, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“I’m just happy,” Mafuyu replied, giving him another, quicker, kiss. “Really—Really happy.”

Uenoyama looked over to see Shouyou waggling his eyebrows, as if to say, “I told you so.” He settled back, feeling a little relieved, and just listened as they came up with their plan for next weekend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more planned one with more teammates and boyfriend and brother shenanigans :D
> 
> I might possibly write a piece with Yuuji asking Shouyou out. Who knows


End file.
